About

The Forest School was inspired by my wondering about a new setting in which to offer myself as a teacher. The North Woods of Dartington have long been a special place for me, and I have spent many hours walking, sitting and running there. I find a special quality of stillness amongst the trees and a wonderfully fortifying energy. The practice of forest bathing has now become popular and the health benefits of spending time in nature are well recognised.

This post-graduate school for craniosacral therapists offers short courses for personal and professional development, and an experience of being immersed in the forest, connecting with the elements and forces of Life. We gather around the fire each morning to meditate, the birdsong weaving a soundscape that adds to a sense of interconnectedness. Teaching is given in the outdoor classroom around the tree table, and table sessions in the womb-like Nest. I envisaged this space as akin to a sweat lodge structure, a place of alchemical transformation, change and rebirth. And it seems to me that the energetics of this space, which is constructed according to Sacred Geometry, does indeed support the session work.

Breaks are important, to rest and digest and to process the teaching and session work, so we take 90 minutes at lunchtime, plus a break mid-morning and mid-afternoon. There is time to dream, to walk in the forest or rest in the Nest.